How to build muscle like The Rock

While you were (probably) quaffing your hair and skipping the gym, Baywatch star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has been busy. As the latest Super Bowl spot for the beach-muscle movie shows, The Rock has never looked better. Time to get up before that alarm clock and take advantage of the People's Champ's best muscle-building secrets. How? Read on...

Regardless of whether you love or hate the big man, in his own words, “it doesn’t matter what you think.”

If you've always wanted to be a Professional Large Man like Dwayne, a new productivity app will help you do just that. The Rock Clock enables you to set alarms (with no snooze button, as Johnson believes life doesn’t have a snooze button) with messages from the man himself. Sometimes it’s the sound of multiple chainsaws or explosions, or it could just be the Rock’s own voice saying “beep beep. Beep beep.” Over and over again. If you're feeling masochistic, you can even set it to match his own Herculean schedule if you feel as though your life just doesn't have enough 5am starts.

Whether you buy in to his Project Rock brand or not, there’s no doubting the man has an awe-inspiring work ethic. According to Forbes magazine, Dwayne Johnson was among the biggest grossing actors in recent years, netting a personal fortune of $31 million last year alone. While he was busy winning Hollywood, he was continuing his role in the unstoppable Fast and Furious franchise, gaining heroic size to hassle the Hoff in the Baywatch remake, and has even signed on for a remake of cult classic Jumanji.

Johnson is now the most-followed one-man strength and fitness cult on the internet with 10m devotees on Twitter and 50m on Instagram – for comparision, the total population of the UK is around 67 million.

Start building legendary proportions with these workouts from Johnson’s coach Dave Rienzi. Then move onto Johnson’s training principles that'll help you make the most of every session.

Maintenance is for pussies

Now 42, Johnson swears he’s not past it. In fact, he believes he’s not even near it. “I don’t train to maintain, I train to progress,” he says. “In your late thirties your muscles have great maturity and memory, so you can make incredible gains.” Science agrees: men over 40 can improve strength by 80% over 16 weeks. But take note of any post-workout pain. “When your body speaks to you, you’re smart to listen to it.”

Pit your body against itself

Johnson goes to the gym a lot, and always wears huge headphones. “I use bigger headphones to cancel out all the noise,” he says. “Life is hectic and crazy, and shutting all of that out makes it ‘you vs you’ time.” As for what keeps Johnson on track: “It’s 95% hardcore hip-hop. The other 5% is Metallica and Disturbed.” Keep your BPM up and the world out.

Rock your metabolism

Cardio might be boring, but for Johnson impending nudity is motivation enough. “When you’re going to be in a loin-cloth, it changes your training,” he says. Your swim shorts might cover a bit more, but his cardio will work for you. “I do 30-35min of cardio every morning. I wake up, have some coffee then jump on the elliptical trainer. I’ll slam about 1L of water before breakfast.” Exercising on empty increases your fat burning by 20%. Let the losers snooze.

Take cheat day to new levels

For Hercules, Johnson trained twice a day, six days a week for the best part of two years. It’s fair to say he earned his cheat days. “I turned them into absurd, Olympic events with pizza, brownies, pancakes – as much as I could eat,” he says. And the theory of cheating is very real. The American Journal of Physiology reports a high-kcal meal boosts leptin by 30%, regulating hunger for 24hr. “I approach cheat meals like tequila,” he adds. “I used to go bottle to lips, but now I sip. Well, now and then I go bottle to lips. You’ve got to.”

Lift heavy then go home

Johnson admits that his on-screen success isn’t all down to him. “I have an amazing team, a great strength and diet coach,” he says. “But money doesn’t fall out of the sky – that shit’s expensive. There was a time I was dick-broke. But there are fundamental principles that will lead you in the right direction. Train hard and heavy; train basic and dirty.” Johnson adds: “Go hardcore, balls to the wall every time you work out. Then leave it all in the gym.” What the Rock says, goes.

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